Speed Skating Canada – Danaé Blais will make her World Cup debut, joining a team that captured four medals and broke three Canadian records last weekend in Calgary

 

Courtney Sarault (#96), of Moncton, NB,  Alyson Charles (#97), of Montréal, QC, Cédrik Blais (#124), of Châteauguay, QC, and Steven Dubois (#125), of Lachenaie, QC, skate in the mixed relay quarterfinals at the ISU 2018 Short Track World Cup at the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Alberta on November 2, 2018.

Photo by Dave Holland, CSI Calgary Photos

 

SALT LAKE CITY, USA – Canada’s short track skaters have left the comforts of home and are ready to hit the ice tomorrow in Salt Lake City, Utah for the 2018 ISU World Cup Short Track #2. The event runs from November 9-11 at the Utah Olympic Oval.

The competition gets underway Friday with the qualifying races in all distances. The finals for the men’s and ladies 1000m(1) and 1500m races will take place on Saturday, while those for the men’s and ladies 500m and 1000m(2) races, along with all three relays (men’s, ladies and mixed gender) are set for Sunday. 

The ladies captured all of Canada’s medals last weekend at the World Cup opener in Calgary, with Alyson Charles of Montreal, Que. winning two 500m bronze, Courtney Sarault of Moncton, N.B. winning a silver in the 1500m, and the relay team winning a bronze. The men’s team had some success, with a fourth place finish for Sam Girard of Ferland-et-Boilleau, QC in the 500m(2) and fourth place in the relay, but were unable to find the podium.

Danaé Blais of Châteauguay, QC has joined the team and will make her World Cup debut this weekend.

Salt Lake City is known for its fast ice, so keep an eye out for the men’s and ladies relay teams, both of whom established new Canadian records at the Olympic Oval in Calgary last weekend. Steven Dubois, who set a new Canadian mark in the men’s 500m, will have the chance to do the same in the longer distances this time around.

The ISU’s YouTube channel and Facebook page will be live streaming Friday’s qualification races, while CBC Sports and Radio-Canada will have live online coverage of the event on Saturday and Sunday beginning at 4:00PM ET.

A detailed event schedule, along with live results, can be found on the ISU Results Portal.

Please see below the full list of athletes, in alphabetical order by last name, and the races they will be skating in this weekend. A biography of each athlete can be found at www.speedskating.ca/teams/short-track. 

Men’s Team

• BLAIS, Cédrik – 1000m(1), 500m                                                      
• COURNOYER, Charle – 1000m(1), 1000m(2)                                  
• DION, Pascal – 1500m, 1000m(2)                                                    
• DUBOIS, Steven – 1500m, 1000m(2)                                               
• GIRARD, Samuel – 1000m(1), 500m                                                
• HAMELIN, Charles – 1500m, 500m                                     

Ladies Team

• BLAIS, DANAÉ – 1000m(1), 500m                                                     
• CHARLES, Alyson – 1000m(1), 1000m(2)                                                       
• DE SERRES-RAINVILLE, Camille – 1500m, 500m                 
• DESMARAIS, Alison – 1000m(1), 500m                               
• GAGNON, Claudia – 1500m, 1000m(2)                               
• SARAULT, Courtney – 1500m, 1000m(2)                            

For more information on the event, including links to schedules, results and webcasting, please visit www.speedskating.ca/events/world-cup-2-st.

Media Contact:

Nicole Espenant

Speed Skating Canada

Email: communications@speedskating.ca

Phone: 613-797-1630